Hit the Ode is a unique performance poetry night bringing world-class spoken word artists to the heart of Birmingham to perform alongside open mic-ers.
In May, we’ll be joined by Canongate Books as they prepare for the launch of More Fiya: A New Collection of Black British Poetry.
To celebrate this launch we’re mixing up the line-up with Malika Booker as host, with guests Nick Makoha, Karen McCarthy Woolf and Dzfia Benson. Join them for a pre-event discussion on Black British poetry, readings from the collection, and the usual open mic slots.
More Fiya is a scorching new anthology of Black British poetry, edited by Kayo Chingonyi, following in the footsteps of Lemn Sissay’s seminal collection The Fire People.
Price
£5 in advance, £8 on the door
Prices and discounts subject to changeRunning Time
2 hours and 15 minutes
Age guidance
14+
Performances
CONCESSIONS
We offer a range of discounts and concessions to enable everyone to enjoy an affordable visit to Birmingham Hippodrome.
CONCESSIONS FOR PATRONS WITH DISABILITIES
£2.50 tickets in all seating areas.
2-for-1 for disabled patrons who require the service/support of a companion.
CLICK HERE for more information on our Access Performances
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Discounts and Concessions are offered subject to availability at the discretion of the Information and Sales Manager. Top three price bands only, unless otherwise stated. Restrictions may apply. Only one discount per ticket may apply, unless otherwise stated. Offers are non retrospective and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Valid ID must be presented where applicable. Additional discounts may be offered from time to time.
Malika Booker is a British poet of Guyanese and Grenadian parentage and the founder of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen. Her collection Pepper Seed (Peepal Tree Press, 2013) was shortlisted for the OCM Bocas Poetry Prize 2014 and the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize. She received her MA from Goldsmiths University, was Cultural Fellow in Creative Writing at Leeds University, and is now a Lecturer at MMU. Malika was the first British poet to become a fellow of Cave Canem, was the inaugural Poet in Residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has represented British writing internationally, both independently and with the British Council.
Nick Makoha was shortlisted for the 2017 Forward Prize for Best First Collection for his debut Kingdom of Gravity. He is a Cave Canem Graduate Fellow, Malika’s Kitchen Fellow and Complete Works Alumnus. He won the 2015 Brunel International African Poetry prize and the 2016 Toi Derricotte & Cornelius Eady Chapbook Prize for his pamphlet Resurrection Man. His poems have appeared in the New York Times, Poetry Review, Rialto, Poetry London, Triquarterly Review, Boston Review, Callaloo and Wasafiri among others.
Karen McCarthy Woolf’s first poetry collection An Aviary of Small Birds was nominated for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and Jerwood Prizes, and her latest, Seasonal Disturbances, was a winner in the inaugural Laurel Prize. In 2019 she moved to Los Angeles as a Fulbright postdoctoral scholar and Writer in Residence at the Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA, exploring the relationship between poetry and law. 2021 took her to Brazil, as an artist in residence at the Sacatar Institute in Bahia, writing new work exploring sugar and its cultural and material legacies.
Dzifa Benson is a multidisciplinary artist whose work intersects science, art, the body and ritual, which she explores through poetry, prose, theatre-making, performance, essays and criticism. She has performed nationally and internationally for Tate Britain, the Courtauld Institute of Art, BBC Africa Beyond and more, and she abridged the National Youth Theatre’s 2021 production of Othello in collaboration with Olivier award-winning director Miranda Cromwell.